Myofunctional Training for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients After Transoral Robotic Surgery

Efficacy of Oropharyngeal Myofunctional Therapeutic Training for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients After Transoral Robotic Surgery

Background: Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSA) is a kind of sleep disorder. The symptoms are intermittent, partial or complete upper airway collapse, seriously impacting oxygen saturation and oxidative stress. Some patients choose to do upper airway surgeries, but the success rate is only 60-70%. The symptoms might relapse because of aging and gaining weights. The purpose of our study is to compare the effect of transoral robotic surgery (TORS) and oropharyngeal rehabilitation (OPR) on patients after TORS. Methods: Participants above 20 years old who are newly diagnosed with mild to severe OSA (Apnea-hypopnea Index >5/h), and the physician will explain the treatment programs to every subject in clinic. Expected results: The hypothesis of this study is the success rate of surgery will be enhance by increasing tongue and jaw-opening muscle strength after OPR. The biomarkers of cardiovascular disease may decrease and both the collapse of upper airway and sleep quality may be improved after TORS and OPR.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Sleep Apnea, Obstructive
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: oral appliance; Device: using continuous positive airway pressure; Behavioral: losing weights; Procedure: transoral robotic surgery; Combination product: oropharyngeal rehabilitation

Detailed Description

The participants above 20 years old who are newly diagnosed with mild to severe OSA (Apnea-hypopnea Index >5/h), and the physician will explain the treatment programs to every subject. By their willingness to choose the therapeutic method, the participants who select the surgery interventions will be assign to TORS or TORS+OPR group. The matched controls as well as age-, sex-, and body mass index-matched OSA participants will be selected from the patients who are waiting for oral appliance, losing weight and using continuous positive airway pressure. Before surgery, 6 week and 18 week after surgery, the investiagters will compare the polysomnography data, questionnaires of sleep quality, drug-induced sleep endoscopy and computed tomography as primary outcomes. The investigators will also compare the tongue and jaw-opening muscle strength and biomarkers of oxidative stress, anti-oxidative stress, inflammatory cytokines and matrix metalloproteinases 9 as secondary outcomes. The OPR would begin at 6 week after surgery, and participants will undergo three months of the home-based oropharyngeal myofunctional therapeutic training. During the training intervention period, participants will be interviewed one time per week for adjusting the treatment intensity.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 81
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Taiwan
  • Please Select
    • Tainan, Please Select, Taiwan, 412
      • National Cheng Kung University Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 16 years to 61 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Clinical diagnosis of mild to severe OSA in the past year
• Age between 20-65 years old.

Exclusion Criteria:

• A history of malignancy or infection of the head and neck region and laryngeal trauma
• Craniofacial malformation
• Stroke
• Neuromuscular disease
• Heart failure
• Coronary artery disease.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Sham Comparator: Control; Without the willingness of surgery, those participants waiting for oral appliance (Device), losing weights and using continuous positive airway pressure (Device) were distribute to control group.	Device: oral appliance; It is a kind of treatment for the participants who refuse surgeries and choose to use other kinds of conservative treatment. The conservative treatments included oral appliance, losing weights and using continuous positive airway pressure. The oral appliance would be wore only at night and it would press the soft palate and protrude the jaw.; Device: using continuous positive airway pressure; The participants only used CPAP at night. The device composed of a main machine, pipe and mask. The participants would instruct to wore the mask. The main machine would give positive airway pressure to open the airway and avoid collapsing.; Other Names: CPAP; Behavioral: losing weights; The participants would ask to lose weight by changing their diets and exercising, without using drugs and surgeries.
Experimental: Transoral robotic surgery (TORS); The participants underwent TORS. TORS is a kind of surgery that the surgeons would remove the tonsils and the fat tissue of tongue base and suspend the soft palate.	Procedure: transoral robotic surgery; transoral robotic surgery (TORS) which remove the extra soft tissue of the base of the tongue and soft palate in this study
Experimental: TORS+OPR; The participants started OPR 6 weeks after TORS. Each exercise was repeated 10 times, 1-3 cycles per day, 3-5 sessions per week at their home and performed for 3 months. Patients were supervised by physical therapist once a week for 30 minutes.	Procedure: transoral robotic surgery; transoral robotic surgery (TORS) which remove the extra soft tissue of the base of the tongue and soft palate in this study; Combination product: oropharyngeal rehabilitation; OPR included exercise for soft palate, tongue and oropharynx. There are 13 movements in OPR. The movements would be teach by a physical therapist.; Other Names: OPR

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI)	Polysomnography included electroencephalographic, electro-oculographic, thoracic and abdominal respiratory inductance plethysmography and body position sensor to confirm the sleeping stage in one-night observation. Above measurements will be aggregated to arrive AHI. Unabbreviated scale title:Apnea and Hypopnea index The minimum value:0 The maximum values: none Higher scores mean a worse outcome.	through study completion, an average of 6 months
Computer Tomography (CT)_Volume	All patients underwent CT in a supine position. Each patient was instructed to maintain his/her tongue in the resting position, without swallowing, during CT. Volume from hard palate to the base of epiglottis was measured.	through study completion, an average of 6 months
Computer Tomography (CT)_minimal Area	All patients underwent CT in a supine position. Each patient was instructed to maintain his/her tongue in the resting position, without swallowing, during CT. Cross section area on the tip of epiglottis was measured.	through study completion, an average of 6 months
Computer Tomography (CT)_AP Distance	All patients underwent CT in a supine position. Each patient was instructed to maintain his/her tongue in the resting position, without swallowing, during CT. Anterior to posterior distance on the tip of epiglottis was measured.	through study completion, an average of 6 months
Computer Tomography (CT)_Lateral Distance	All patients underwent CT in a supine position. Each patient was instructed to maintain his/her tongue in the resting position, without swallowing, during CT. Lateral distance on the tip of epiglottis was measured.	through study completion, an average of 6 months
Drug-induced Sleep Endoscopy (DISE)	All patients underwent DISE in a supine position. The possible outcomes were unilevel collapse at the velum, oropharynx, tongue base, or epiglottis and multilevel collapse at any of these locations. The velum is the part of the upper airway at the level of the soft palate and uvula; the oropharynx is the pharyngeal portion at the level of the tonsils, above the tongue base. The tongue base was considered the retroglossal area; epiglottis was considered the pharyngeal region below the tongue base. The degree of obstruciton was diagnosed by an ear nose throat surgeon. The degree of obstruction ranged from 0 to 2. 0: no obstruction (<50%); 1: partial obstruction (50-75%); 2: complete obstruction (>75%).	through study completion, an average of 6 months
Jaw Opening Muscle Strength	Muscle strength of jaw was measured with a 'handheld' dynamometer (MicroFET○R2, Hoggan Scientific, USA) mounted on an adapted ophthalmic examination frame, to avoid alterations in chin and head position and to ensure consistent compression.	through study completion, an average of 6 months
Tongue Protrusion Muscle Strength	The muscle strength of the tongue was evaluated by the IOPI system, model 2.2 (Northwest, Co., LLC, Carnation, WA, USA).	through study completion, an average of 6 months
Tongue Elevation Muscle Strength	The muscle strength of the tongue was evaluated by the IOPI system, model 2.2 (Northwest, Co., LLC, Carnation, WA, USA).	through study completion, an average of 6 months
Tongue Depression Muscle Strength	The muscle strength of the tongue was evaluated by the IOPI system, model 2.2 (Northwest, Co., LLC, Carnation, WA, USA).	through study completion, an average of 6 months
Tongue Lateralization Muscle Strength	The muscle strength of the tongue was evaluated by the IOPI system, model 2.2 (Northwest, Co., LLC, Carnation, WA, USA).	through study completion, an average of 6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: National Cheng-Kung University Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 1, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 31, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): December 31, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 3, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 2, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): May 6, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 21, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 29, 2024
• Last Verified: September 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nervous System Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Respiration Disorders; Sleep Disorders, Intrinsic; Dyssomnias; Sleep Wake Disorders; Signs and Symptoms, Respiratory; Sleep Apnea Syndromes; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive; Apnea
• Other Study ID Numbers: NCKUH-10902002

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No